Not a Shock: New York Jets Remain Among the NFL's Most Undisciplined Teams

The New York Jets are struggling this year as they can't cut back on penalties.

The struggles of the New York Jets this season in terms of penalties is well-documented. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that they rank near the bottom of the NFL in a new analytics category.

Heading into Week 7, the Jets are tied as the fourth-worst team in the NFL in the newly created ‘Discipline Index.’

The Jets sit at 2.13 on the index, tied with the New Orleans Saints. That level, which takes into accounts factors such as penalties, penalty yardage and turnovers, places the Jets in the ‘Very Low Level Coaching/Playing’ classification according to ‘The 33rd Team.’

For the 0-6 Jets, it isn’t a dig to say that they’ve struggled in nearly every facet of the game. Both the offense and the defense are ranked bottom-five in the NFL in a number of crucial categories. But even by that lowly standard that they have set, collectively as a team, the issue with penalties is bad.

The Jets are averaging 7.5 penalties per game, second-most in the NFL. And despite the focus over the past few games on cutting back on penalties, with head coach Adam Gase saying it was a particularly point of concern, penalties still are trending in the wrong direction for the Jets.

Over the past three games, the Jets are averaging eight penalties a game. That is the most in the NFL during that stretch.

That would be the wrong direction.

Topping the index as the league’s most disciplined teams are the Seattle Seahawks (1.25) and the Green Bay Packers (1.29) followed by the Los Angeles Rams in third (1.3). The Seahawks (5-0), Packers (4-1) and Rams (4-2) all have winning records so their attention to details and a lack of sloppy play shouldn’t be a surprise.

It isn’t fool-proof however, that the worst teams in the NFL will be at the bottom of the index. There are some headscratchers in the mix.

While the Dallas Cowboys are ranked last in the ‘Discipline Index’ (2.36) with a 2-4 record (not a surprise), the Chicago Bears are second-lowest in the index (2.18) and are 5-1.

‘The 33rd Team’ is a new analytics think tank that provides data analysis to help explain the NFL. It is the brain-child of former Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum, now a popular on-air analyst with ESPN.